makefiles(4L)

📦

version 3.02a09 · 2 versions

3.02a09 · arch rolling (latest)
1.6 · nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

💖 NAME 💖

makefiles(4L) is the users guide for compiling projects on different platforms — GMD FOKUS FILE FORMATS, bestie, welcome to the group chat 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

make [target]
gmake [target]
smake [target]

target may be one of these iconic little words:

.help — get a list of possible targets and a short description.
all — make the default targets.
install — make and install the default targets (see INS_BASE and INS_KBASE to learn how to modify the installation path).
ibins — make and install a target in SRCROOT/bins.
depend — re-make dependency rules for all default targets. Note: all dependency files will automatically be remade on the next run of make before they are included.
clean — remove core files and all intermediate object files.
clobber — remove the targets from clean, all dependency files and all final targets.
distclean — remove the targets from clean and clobber and all made files for all architectures.
tags — make vi(1) compatible tags.
TAGS — make emacs(1) compatible tags.
config — reserved for future use.
rmtarget — remove the default target.
relink — remove the default target and remake it immediately. This can be used to change, for example, LD_RUN_PATH in the executable.

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Makefiles is a set of rules that allows compiling of structured projects with small and uniformly structured makefiles. All rules are located in a central directory. Compiling the projects on different platforms can be done simultaneously without the need to modify any of the makefiles that are located in the projects directories.

Makefiles is a set of high level portability tools superior to autoconf and easier to use.

Three make programs are supported: Sunpro make, GNU make and smake.

BSDmake could be supported if it supports pattern matching rules correctly.

The main design goal was to have a set of small and easy to read makefiles, each located in the project's leaf directory and therefore called leaf-makefile.

Each of these leaf-makefiles, in fact, contains no rule at all. It simply defines some macros for the make-program and includes two files from a central make rule depository. The included files and the files that are recursively included define the rules that are needed to compile the project.

Each leaf-makefile is formed in a really simple way:

It first defines two macros that define the relative location of the project's root directory and the name of the directory that contains the complete set of rules, and then includes the rule file rules.top from the directory that forms the central rule depository. You only have to edit the macro SRCROOT to reflect the relative location of the project's root directory.
The next part of a leaf-makefile defines macros that describe the target and the source. You can only have one target per leaf-makefile. Of course, there may be many source files that are needed to create that target. If you want to make more than one target in a specific directory, you have to put more than one makefile into that directory. This is the part of a makefile that describes a unique target. Edit this part to contain all source files, all local include files and all non global compile time flags that are needed for your target. For a typical target this is as simple as filling in a form.
Each leaf-makefile finally includes a file from the rules directory that contains rules for the appropriate type of target that is to be made from this leaf-makefile.

The makefile in each directory has to be called Makefile. If you want to have more than one makefile in a specific directory, you have to choose different names for the other makefiles.

There are rules for the following type of targets:

commands — the make rules for user level commands like cat, ls etc. are located in the file rules.cmd.
drivers — the make rules for device drivers are located in the file rules.drv.
libraries — the make rules for non shared libraries are located in the file rules.lib.
shared libraries — the make rules for shared libraries are located in the file rules.shl.
localized files — the make rules for localized files are located in the file rules.loc.
nonlocalized files — the make rules for non localized files are located in the file rules.aux.
shell scripts — the make rules for shell scripts (a variant of localized files) are located in the file rules.scr.
manual pages — the make rules for manual pages (a variant of localized files) are located in the file rules.man.
diverted makefiles — the make rules for projects that need to have more than one makefile in a specific directory are located in the file rules.mks. It contains a rule that diverts to the listed sub makefiles. Each sub makefile may be of any type.
directories — the make rules for sub directories are located in the file rules.dir.

🎀 Macros/Variables Used In Rules 🎀

The following is a description of the most important macros used within the make rules. NOTE: not all of them might be changed in a specific makefile. Carefully read the description and change only those macros that are intended to be used to change the behavior of the compilation.

ARCHDIR — contains the location where object files and make targets will be placed. A typical name would be: OBJ/sparc-sunos5-cc. Do not change this macro.
ASFLAGS — the flags that are used with the assembler. Do not change this macro.
ASMFILES — a list of assembler source files, to be specified in a leaf makefile.
ASOPTS — the internal macro that contains the flags for the assembler. Change this macro if you want to change the behavior. Use: ASOPTS= value if you want to override the default value. If you want to override the default assembler flags from the command line call: make 'ASOPTS=value'. Use: ASOPTS += value if you want to add flags to the default value from within a makefile.
ASOPTX — may be used if you want to add flags to the assembler flags from the command line. Use: make 'ASOPTX=value'.
C_ARCH — this macro contains the c-compiler architecture name. Do not change this macro.
CCOM — this macro may be used from the command line to use a different c-compiler than the default. Use: make 'CCOM=gcc' to use gcc for the next run. Note: the value of CCOM must not necessarily be identical to the real name of the c-compiler. It refers to a filename which contains the definition for that c-compiler. This hint applies as well to all other macros that deal with the name of the c-compiler. The only macro that contains the real invocation name of the c-compiler is CC. CC is set inside the machine dependent configuration file in the central rules depository and must not be changed elsewhere.
CFILES — a list of C source files, to be specified in a leaf makefile.
CFLAGS — the flags that are used with the c-compiler. Do not use flags that belong to the c-preprocessor in the COPTOPT, COPTS and COPTX macros. Do not change this macro.
CLEAN_FILES — a list of files (besides the object files) that will be removed with make clean. Do not change this macro.
CLEAN_FILEX — this macro may be used to define additional files that should be removed with make clean.
CLOBBER_FILEX — this macro may be used to define additional files that should be removed with make clobber.
COPTOPT — the c-compiler optimization flag. This flag is intended to be overridden either from a makefile or from command line.
COPTS — the internal macro that contains the flags for the c-compiler. Change this macro if you want to change the behavior. Use: COPTS= value if you want to override the default value. If you want to override the default c-compiler flags from the command line call: make 'COPTS=value'. Use: COPTS += value if you want to add flags to the default value from within a makefile.
COPTX — may be used if you want to add flags to the c-compiler flags from the command line. Use: make 'COPTX=value'.
CPPFLAGS — the flags that are used with the c-preprocessor. This macro as well as CPPOPTS and CPPOPTX are also used when compiling c-programs. They should contain only the following flags: -Dname=value, -Uname, -Idirectory and -Ydirectory. Do not change this macro.
CPPOPTS — the internal macro that contains the flags for the c-preprocessor. Change this macro if you want to change the behavior. Use: CPPOPTS= value if you want to override the default value. If you want to override the default c-preprocessor flags from the command line call: make 'CPPOPTS=value'. Use: CPPOPTS += value if you want to add flags to the default value from within a makefile.
CPPOPTX — may be used if you want to add flags to the c-preprocessor flags from the command line. Use: make 'CPPOPTX=value'.
CURDIR — this macro contains the name of the sub directory that is currently processed. Do not change this macro.
CWARNOPTS — this macro may be set in $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH) to overwrite the default c-compiler warn options.
CWOPTS — this macro is set inside the machine dependent configuration file in the central rules depository and must not be changed elsewhere. It contains the flags that set the default warning level for the c-compiler.
DEFINSGRP — this macro may be set in the projects defaults file to set up the default group id for installation.

okay so we're deep in the macro alphabet now, bestie — buckle up, the D's through the M's are a whole journey ✨

DEFINSMODE — this macro can be set in the project's defaults file to set up the default file permission for installation 💅
DEFINSUSR — same deal, but it sets up the default user id for installation in the defaults file 🫶
DEFUMASK — also set in the project's defaults file, and it sets up the default umask value used when creating sub directories ✨
DEFAULTSDIR — this one can be set from the command line or from the shell environment if you want a completely different set of Defaults files that isn't hanging out in the directory DEFAULTS in the source root. Iconic use case: holding two or more sets of defaults that differ in stuff like the installation path or the C-compiler 👑
DEFAULTSROOT — may be set in a leaf makefile if that makefile wants a Defaults file that is not located in $(DEFAULTSDIR) in the source root. Perfect for when a sub tree in a big project needs its own different setup 🌸
DEFLTSDIR — internally used macro, set from $(DEFAULTSDIR) or from the internal defaults. Do not change this macro. 🚫
DEFLTSROOT — internally used macro, set from $(DEFAULTSROOT) or from the internal defaults. Do not change this macro. 🚫
DEFCCOM — the default name of the c-compiler. Usually set in the file $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH) 🛠️
DEFINCDIRS — a list of directories that get searched by default in addition to the system include directories. If this macro isn't set, $(SRCROOT)/include is used 💖
DIRNAME — this macro needs to be set in the makefile located in the $(SRCROOT) directory. The value should be either the name of the directory where the makefile lives, or SRCROOT. Its value updates automatically to follow the directory hierarchy. Do not change this macro in a make file other than the make file in the source root. 🙈
DIRS — needs to be set in a makefile located in a directory that contains diversion directories. It has to contain a list of directory names where the diversions go to, like DIRS= libfoo libbar libgarbage 🍓
HFILES — for normal operation, makefiles automatically find which include files are needed for compilation. But — if you want to create a tag file that includes tags for definitions that occur within include files, you should set HFILES to a list of include files containing such definitions 🔥
INCDIRS — normally this is just a copy of DEFINCDIRS, but you can specify a different value in a leaf makefile or from the command line. That overwrites the defaults value 💅
INS_BASE — has to be specified in the file $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH). It must contain the path name of the root for installing general targets of the project. See INSDIR 🎀
INS_KBASE — same deal, has to be specified in $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH), and it must contain the path name of the root for installing kernel modules from the project. See INSDIR 🎀
INSDIR — this one has to be specified in the leaf makefile. It must contain the path name of a directory relative to INS_BASE or INS_KBASE. The target gets installed into $(INS_BASE)/$(INSDIR) 🦋
INSGRP — may be set in a leaf makefile to set up the group id for installation 🫶
INSMODE — may be set in a leaf makefile to set up the file permission for installation 💅
INSUSR — may be set in a leaf makefile to set up the user id for installation ✨
K_ARCH — contains the kernel/machine architecture for the target machine (e.g. sun3 sun4c sun4m sun4u 9000-725 aviion). It's set to the output of uname -m converted to lower case. Do not change this macro. 🚫
KARCH — also contains the kernel/machine architecture for the target machine (e.g. sun3 sun4c sun4m sun4u 9000-725 aviion), and yes it's set to the output of uname -m converted to lower case. Do not change this macro unless you want to do a cross compilation. 🌈
LDFLAGS — the flags that are used with the linker. Do not change this macro. 🚫
LDLIBS — the internal macro that holds the libraries used while linking the target. Do not change this macro. 🚫
LDOPTS — the internal macro that contains the flags for the linker. This one you change if you want to change the behavior:
- use LDOPTS= value if you want to override the default value
- if you want to override the default linker flags from the command line, call make 'LDOPTS=value'
- use LDOPTS += value if you want to add flags to the default value from within a makefile 💜
LDOPTX — may be used if you want to add flags to the linker flags from the command line. Use: make 'LDOPTX=value' 🔥
LDPATH — the default library search path for the linker. Usually set in the file $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH) 🌸
LIB_KVM — a predefined macro containing the operating-system-dependent name of a library that programs need when they read/write kernel virtual memory. Add $(LIB_KVM) to your list of libraries (e.g. LIBS= -lintl $(LIB_KVM)) if your target uses kvm 🧚
LIB_MATH — a predefined macro containing the operating-system-dependent name of the library needed by programs that use routines of the math library. Add $(LIB_MATH) to your list of libraries (e.g. LIBS= -lintl $(LIB_MATH)) if your target uses math subroutines ✨
LIB_SOCKET — a predefined macro containing the operating-system-dependent name of the library needed by programs that use socket calls. Add $(LIB_SOCKET) to your list of libraries (e.g. LIBS= -lintl $(LIB_SOCKET)) if your target uses sockets. > Note: for portability reasons you should do this even on systems that don't require a socket library because they have the socket interface inside libc. no cap, do it anyway 💀
LIBS_PATH — contains the path to a directory where the libraries live that have been built during a make run inside the current project. Do not change this macro. 🚫
M_ARCH — contains the machine architecture for the target machine (e.g. sun3 sun4 ip22 i86pc i586 9000-725 aviion). It's set to the output of arch converted to lower case. On systems where M_ARCH isn't available, it's set to the content of K_ARCH. Do not change this macro. 🚫
MK_FILES — makefiles that divert into sub makes within the same directory must set MK_FILES to a list of makefile names for the sub makes. Those names should be built by adding .mk to the base name of the target that's defined inside the specific makefile 🎀
MAKEPROG — set this macro to the name of your make program if it doesn't support the macro MAKE_NAME. The make program smake is able to identify itself. If you want to use a make program that is not able to identify itself and its name isn't make, set MAKEPROG to the name of the make program. Currently only gmake is supported as an alternate value for MAKEPROG. If you want to use an unsupported make program you have to check if it supports the needed features for makefiles — and you must write your own rule files for that make program. If you want to use gmake, you should do setenv MAKEPROG gmake before you start gmake, or use a shell script that does this job for you 🛠️
MAKE — set up by the make program itself. It contains a path name that's sufficient to recursively call the same make program again (either the last path component or the full path name of the make program). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKEFLAGS — set up by the make program. It contains the command line flags make is called with. Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_ARCH — currently set up by smake only. Contains the processor architecture of the target machine (e.g. mc68020, sparc, pentium). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_BRAND — currently set up by smake only. Contains the brand of the target machine (e.g. Sun_Microsystems(e.g. )) — yes bestie the page literally has a stray "e.g." in there, I'm not making this up 😭 Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_HOST — currently set up by smake only. Contains the host name of the target machine (e.g. duffy, sherwood, ghost). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_MACH — currently set up by smake only. Contains the kernel architecture of the target machine (e.g. sun3, sun4c, sun4m, sun4u). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_MODEL — currently set up by smake only. Contains the model name of the target machine (e.g. SUNW,SPARCstation-20). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_M_ARCH — currently set up by smake only. Contains the machine architecture of the target machine (e.g. sun3, sun4). Do not change this macro. 🚫
MAKE_NAME — currently set up by smake only. Contains the official name of the make program (e.g. make, smake, gmake). Do not change this macro. 🚫

okay that's the macro wall done, bestie, but don't go anywhere — more is coming 💖

MAKE_OS — bestie, smake is literally the only one that sets this up. It's holding the operating system name of the target machine (like sunos, linux, dgux). Do not change this macro. hands off, i'm serious 🙅‍♀️
MAKE_OSDEFS — also smake-only, also not yours to touch. It's carrying the operating system specific defines for the compiler (e.g. -D__SVR4). Do not change this macro.
MAKE_OSREL — yup, smake sets this one too. It's got the operating system release name of the target machine (e.g. 5.5, 4.1.1). Do not change this macro.
MAKE_OSVERSION — again, smake-only territory. Contains the operating system version of the target machine (e.g. generic). Do not change this macro. 🫶
MAKE_SERIAL — last of the smake-only squad, and it's holding the serial number of the target machine (e.g. 1920098175). Do not change this macro. like why would you even 😭
MANDIR — okay so every single makefile for manual pages must set this macro to the path name relative to INS_BASE where the manual page root dir for the project should live. Valid values for english manual pages are man or share/man; valid values for german manual pages are man/de or share/man/de. slay, choices ✨
MANFILE — makefiles for manual pages set this macro to the name of the troff source file for the manual page. that's it, that's the whole vibe 🎀
MANSECT — makefiles for manual pages set this macro to the macro name that contains the real section name for this manual page. Why? because bsd based systems have different naming conventions than system V based systems, and we're not about to let that ruin our day. See below for a valid list of manual section macros 💅
MANSECT_ADMIN — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for administrative commands and maintenance procedures. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_CMD — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for general user commands. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_DEMOS — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for demo commands. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_DEVICE — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for user level device interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_DRIVER — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for kernel level device driver interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_FILEFORM — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for file formats. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_GAMES — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for games. Do not change this macro. (yes, games. iconic.)
MANSECT_HDR — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for header files. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_LIB — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for library function interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_MACROS — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for troff macros. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_NETWORK — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for user level network interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_SYSCALL — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for system call interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSECT_TABLES — this macro contains the name of the sub directory for tables. Do not change this macro.
MANSTYLE — this macro contains the name that's used to find the right ordering conventions for manual pages. Do not change this macro. no cap, just leave it 🦋
MANSUFFIX — makefiles for manual pages set this macro to the macro name that contains the real suffix for this manual page. Necessary because bsd based systems have different naming conventions than system V based systems (same whole situation as MANSECT). See below for a valid list of manual suffix macros ⭐
MANSUFF_ADMIN — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for administrative commands and maintenance procedures. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_CMD — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for general user commands. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_DEMOS — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for demo commands. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_DEVICE — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for user level device interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_DRIVER — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for kernel level device driver interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_FILEFORM — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for file formats. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_GAMES — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for games. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_HDR — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for header files. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_LIB — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for library function interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_MACROS — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for troff macros. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_NETWORK — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for user level network interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_SYSCALL — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for system call interfaces. Do not change this macro.
MANSUFF_TABLES — this macro contains the name of the file suffix for tables. Do not change this macro.

MARCH — this macro contains the machine architecture for the target machine (e.g. sun3 sun4 ip22 i86pc i586 9000-725 aviion). It's set to the output of arch converted to lower case. On systems where M_ARCH is not available, it's set to the content of K_ARCH. Do not change this macro unless you want to do a cross compilation. like for real, that's the only exception 👑
O_ARCH — this macro contains the name of the operating system converted to lower case. It's usually the output of uname -s. It may contain a modified name if the compilation rules for different versions of the operating system differ (e.g. on SunOS and Solaris, the official operating system name in both cases is SunOS). Do not change this macro.
OARCH — this macro contains the object architecture that's used for architecture dependent sub directories. It's set to $(PARCH)-$(O_ARCH)-$(C_ARCH). Do not change this macro.
OARCHDIR — this macro contains the concatenation of OBJ/ and $(OARCH). Do not change this macro.
OFILES — this macro contains the list of objects that are the dependency list for the target. It's constructed from the list of assembler source files, c source files, lex source files and yacc source files. Do not change this macro. built different, literally 🧚
OINCSDIR — this macro contains the concatenation of $(SRCROOT)/incs/ and $(OARCH). It's the location where include files that are made within a make run and subject to global use will be placed. Do not change this macro.
OLIBSDIR — this macro contains the concatenation of $(SRCROOT)/libs/ and $(OARCH). It's the location where libraries that are made within a make run will be placed. Do not change this macro.
OSDEFS — this macro contains operating system specific c-preprocessor definitions. Do not change this macro.
OSNAME — the unmodified name of the operating system converted to lower case. See O_ARCH. Do not change this macro.
OSREL — the release of the operating system. Do not change this macro.
P_ARCH — this macro contains the processor architecture for the target machine (e.g. mc68020 mc88200 sparc pentium). It's set to the output of uname -p converted to lower case. On systems where P_ARCH is not available, it's set to the content of K_ARCH. Do not change this macro.
PARCH — same deal as P_ARCH: processor architecture for the target machine (e.g. mc68020 mc88200 sparc pentium), set to the output of uname -p converted to lower case, and on systems where P_ARCH is not available it's set to the content of K_ARCH. Do not change this macro unless you want to do a cross compilation. twin behavior, twin rules 💜
RULESDIR — the value of this macro must be set before the rules file $(SRCROOT)/$(RULESDIR/rules.top is included (yes, that's exactly how it's written, don't come for me 😭). If you want to test the behavior of a modified version of the makefiles in RULESDIR, put a copy into an alternate directory, modify one or more files in it, and then use make with a different value of RULESDIR that points to the alternate directory. lowkey a genius move fr fr
RUNPATH — evaluated on systems where LD_RUN_PATH is supported. It contains the default library search path for dynamic linked targets at runtime. This search path will be stored inside the target. It's usually set in the file $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults or $(DEFLTSROOT)/$(DEFLTSDIR)/Defaults.$(O_ARCH). Note that older systems will use LD_LIBRARY_PATH for this purpose too. ok history lesson, we love context ✨
SCRFILE — this macro must be set in a leaf makefile for shell scripts to define the source for that script file. set it or it's not happening, bestie 🎀
SRCFILE — bestie, this one must be set in a leaf makefile whenever you've got localized files, because it defines the source for that file. 💅
SRCROOT — holds the relative position to the project's source root directory. Timing is everything here: the value of this macro must be set before the rules file $(SRCROOT)/$(RULESDIR/rules.top gets included. So if the leaf makefile in question is located two directory levels below the source root, set SRCROOT to ../... 🎀
SUBARCHDIR — may be set to drop the object files and the target into a different directory than usual. SUBARCHDIR will modify the value of ARCHDIR. Wanna build a target that's compiled for dbx? You may use:

make COPTX=-g SUBARCHDIR=-dbx

TARGET — every makefile that isn't referring to library targets or sub makes / sub dir makes must define TARGET to be the output file name of the final link operation. no cap, all of them. 🔥
TARGETLIB — every makefile that's used to make libraries must define TARGETLIB to be the central part of the target library. So if you wanna make e.g. libfoo, define TARGETLIB= foo. Why tho? Because it lets operating systems have different naming conventions for libraries, obvs. And if you're making a non shared library, the example above would result in a filename of libfoo.a for the real target. ✨
TARGETMAN — this macro must be set in a leaf makefile for manual pages, and it defines the base name for that manual page (the suffix is not included, okay?). 🦋
XMK_FILE — makefiles that want to install manual pages should set XMK_FILE to Makefile.man, which saves you from having to install a diversion make file. The make file found in XMK_FILE will be processed only if make is called with the target install. iykyk 🫶

🌸 GETTING STARTED 🌸

Setting up a new project? Here's the little ritual, bestie:

First, copy the RULES and TEMPLATES directories — and all their content — into the project's root directory.
Then copy a top level makefile, a Defaults file and a Targetdirs.archname file into the project's root directory.
Then create the following directories: cmd, lib, include.
Now start creating target directories, e.g. below cmd and lib. And do not forget to create a makefile and an appropriate Targetdirs.archname file on each node directory. 💀

🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

Okay so if you want to set up a private copy of parts of a project, here's the move: pick a directory inside your own directory tree that's gonna become the shadow project's source root directory. Then create symbolic links named RULES and TEMPLATES pointing at the real source root. 🌈

If you don't wanna modify the global include files, create a symbolic link to the include directory too — otherwise, copy the include directory and its content. Then copy the top level makefile, the Defaults file and the Targetdirs.archname file.

Finally, copy the desired sub tree together with all makefiles and the Targetdirs.archname files that are located in the directories above your part of the project — the part you want to have separately. 🎀

💖 FILES 💖

.../RULES/*
.../DEFAULTS/*
.../TARGETS/*
.../TEMPLATES/*

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

makerules(4), make(1), gmake(1), smake(1).

If you wanna know how to add new rules, or how to add support for new operating systems or compilers, look into makerules(4). that's the lore drop right there 👑

🩺 DIAGNOSTICS 🩺

Diagnostic messages depend on the make program you're running, so have a look at the appropriate man page. it's giving "read the docs, bestie" 🙈

👑 NOTES 👑

The scope of this manual is only the usage of leaf makefiles. If you want to make changes to the make rules, have a look at makerules(4) instead. 💜

makefiles can be used with Sunpro make, Gnu make and smake. Although Gnu make runs on many platforms, it has no useful debug output. 😭

Use Sunpro make or smake if you have problems with a makefile. Sunpro make and smake both have a -D flag that allows you to watch the makefiles after the first expansion. Use this option if you're in doubt whether your makefile gets expanded the right way, and whether the right rules are included. There's also a -d option that gives debugging output while make is running. Want even more output? Use -dd, -ddd and so on. 🔥

Smake has an option -xM that shows you the include dependency for make rules. slay.

The following is a list of all macros that are used in makefiles. Do not use them unless their meaning has been explained before. 🚨

-O_ARCH, .OBJDIR, .SEARCHLIST, ALLTARGETS, AR, ARCH, ARCHDIR, ARCHDIRX,
ARCH_DONE, ARFLAGS, AS, ASFLAGS, ASMFILES, ASOPTS, ASOPTX, CC, CCOM,
CCOM_DEF, CFILES, CFLAGS, CHGRP, CHMOD, CHOWN, CLEAN_FILES, CLEAN_FILEX,
CLOBBER_FILEX, COPTDYN, COPTGPROF, COPTOPT, COPTS, COPTX, CPP, CPPFLAGS,
CPPOPTS, CPPOPTX, CTAGS, CURDIR, CWARNOPTS, CWOPTS, C_ARCH, DEFAULTSDIR,
DEFAULTSROOT, DEFCCOM, DEFCCOM_DEF, DEFINCDIRS, DEFINCDIRS_DEF,
DEFINSGRP, DEFINSMODE, DEFINSUSR, DEFUMASK, DEF_ROOT, DEP_DEP, DEP_FILE,
DEP_SUFFIX, DIRNAME, DIRS, DYNLD, ETAGS, FLOAT_OPTIONS, HFILES,
HOSTNAME, INCDIRS, INSDIR, INSGRP, INSGRP_DEF, INSMODE, INSMODE_DEF,
INSTALL, INSUSR, INSUSR_DEF, INS_BASE, INS_KBASE, KARCH, KARCH_DEF,
KDEFINES, K_ARCH, LD, LDCC, LDFLAGS, LDLIBS, LDOPTDYN, LDOPTS, LDOPTX,
LDPATH, LIBS, LIBS_PATH, LIBX, LIB_KVM, LIB_MATH, LIB_PREFIX,
LIB_SOCKET, LIB_SUFFIX, LN, LNDYNLIB, LOCALIZE, LORDER, MAKE, MK_FILES,
MAKEPROG, MAKE_ARCH, MAKE_HOST, MAKE_MACH, MAKE_M_ARCH, MAKE_NAME,
MAKE_OS, MAKE_OSDEFS, MAKE_OSREL, MANDIR, MANFILE, MANSECT,
MANSECT_ADMIN, MANSECT_CMD, MANSECT_DEMOS, MANSECT_DEVICE,
MANSECT_DRIVER, MANSECT_FILEFORM, MANSECT_GAMES, MANSECT_HDR,
MANSECT_LIB, MANSECT_MACROS, MANSECT_NETWORK, MANSECT_SYSCALL,
MANSECT_TABLES, MANSTYLE, MANSUFFIX, MANSUFF_ADMIN, MANSUFF_CMD,
MANSUFF_DEMOS, MANSUFF_DEVICE, MANSUFF_DRIVER, MANSUFF_FILEFORM,
MANSUFF_GAMES, MANSUFF_HDR, MANSUFF_LIB, MANSUFF_MACROS,
MANSUFF_NETWORK, MANSUFF_SYSCALL, MANSUFF_TABLES, MARCH, MARCH_DEF,
MKDEP, MKDEP_OUT, MKDIR, MV, M_ARCH, OARCH, OARCHDIR, OFILES, OINCSDIR,
OLIBSDIR, OSDEFS, OSNAME, OSREL, O_ARCH, PALLDEP_FILE, PARCH, PARCH_DEF,
PASMFILES, PDEP_FILE, PLOFILES, POFILES, PTARGET, PTARGET_BASE,
PYOFILES, P_ARCH, RANLIB, RM, RMDEP, RMTARGET, RM_FORCE, RM_RECURS,
RM_RF, RULESDIR, RUNPATH, SCRFILE, SHELL, SHL_SUFFIX, SRCFILE, SRCLIBS,
SRCROOT, SUBARCH, SUBARCHDIR, SYMLINK, TAGS, TARGET, TARGETLIB,
TARGETMAN, TARGET_BASE, TARGET_PATH, TSORT, UMASK, UMASK_DEF, UMASK_VAL,
XARCH, XK_ARCH, XMK_FILE, XMAKEPROG, XM_ARCH, XP_ARCH, _CCOM,
_DEFAULTSDIR, _DEFCCOM, _DEFINSGRP, _DEFINSMODE, _DEFINSUSR, _DEFUMASK,
_DIRNAME, _INCDIRS, _MAKEPROG, _MARCH, _M_ARCH, _O_ARCH, _PARCH,
_P_ARCH, _UNIQ, __CCOM, __DEFAULTSDIR, __DEFCCOM, __DEFINSGRP,
__DEFINSMODE, __DEFINSUSR, __DEFUMASK, __DIRNAME, __INCDIRS, __MAKEPROG,
__MARCH, __M_ARCH, __PARCH, __P_ARCH,

🐛 BUGS 🐛

Nothing listed here yet — literally an empty section, and we're not gonna invent bugs for it, bestie. 🫶 (if there's more coming, it's coming 💅)

🌳 SOURCE TREE HIERARCHY 🌳

Okay bestie, here's the quick tour through a typical source hierarchy — it's giving "family tree but make it build system" 🌈:

.../ — root directory of the source tree, the main character 👑
- Makefile — the top Makefile
- Targetdirs — a file with a list of directories that are needed for that project. If the system needs different target lists depending on the target system architecture, use target specific files in .../TARGETS/
- ... — more root-level stuff, iykyk
.../RULES/ — the location of makefiles (included rules) 🎀
- rules.top — the mandatory include rules (needed to setup basic rules)
- rules.aux — rules needed to install a non localized auxiliary file
- rules.cmd — rules needed to make an ordinary command (like /bin/sh)
- rules.drv — rules needed to make a device driver
- rules.lib — rules needed to make a standard (nonshared) library
- rules.loc — rules needed to install a localized auxiliary file
- rules.man — rules needed to install a localized manual page
- rules.scr — rules needed to install a localized shell script
- rules.shl — rules needed to make a shared library
- rules.mks — rules needed to make more than one target in a specific directory
- rules.dir — rules needed to make targets that are located in sub directories to the current directory
- ... — more rules, because of course 💅
.../DEFAULTS/ — default definitions for various target architectures are located in this directory. Templates for some architectures can be found in the .../TEMPLATES/ directory.
- Defaults — default definitions for that source tree. System dependent definitions are in .../DEFAULTS/Defaults.*
.../TARGETS/ — target list definitions for various target architectures are located in this directory.
.../TEMPLATES/ — templates that should be used inside the project (rename to Makefile, if it is the only makefile in that directory, rename to target.mk, if there is more than one target in that directory) ✨
- Defaults — Defaults file for the source root directory
- Defaults.linux — Defaults file for linux. This should be installed in the .../DEFAULTS/ directory.
- Makefile.root — Makefile for the source root directory
- Makefile.aux — Makefile for a non localized auxiliary file
- Makefile.cmd — Makefile for an ordinary command (like /bin/sh)
- Makefile.lib — Makefile for a standard (nonshared) library
- Makefile.loc — Makefile for a localized auxiliary file
- Makefile.man — Makefile for a localized manual page
- Makefile_de.man — Makefile for a localized manual page in the german locale
- Makefile.scr — Makefile for a localized shell script
- Makefile.shl — Makefile for a shared library
- Makefile.drv — Makefile for a device driver
- Makefile.mks — Makefile for more than one target in a specific directory
- Makefile.dir — Makefile for targets that are located in sub directories to the current directory
- ... — the template stash continues
.../cmd/ — source tree for normal commands
- Makefile — the makefile for the cmd sub directory
- Targetdirs.sun4m — a file containing a list of directories like myprog (see below) that are needed for that specific architecture.
- myprog/ — directory where the sources for a specific command are located
  - Makefile — makefile for myprog
  - Makefile.man — makefile for the manual page of myprog
  - mprog.c — source for myprog
  - mprog.tr — troff source for the manual page of myprog
  - OBJ/ — directory where system specific sub directories are located
    - sparc-sunos5-cc/ — directory for binaries that belong to a specific system
    - ... — more system-specific sub directories
  - ... — more myprog bits
- ... — more commands, obviously
.../lib/ — directory where the sources for libraries are located
- Makefile — the makefile for the lib sub directory
- Targetdirs.sun4m — a file containing a list of directories like libfoo (see below) that are needed for that specific architecture.
- libfoo/ — directory where all source files for libfoo are located
- ... — more library goodness
.../kernel — directory for kernel modules
- Makefile — the makefile for the kernel sub directory
- Targetdirs.sun4m — a file containing a list of directories like drv (see below) that are needed for that specific architecture.
- drv/ — directory where drivers are located
  - Makefile — the makefile for the drv sub directory
  - Targetdirs.sun4m — a file containing a list of directories like mydrv (see below) that are needed for that specific architecture.
  - mydrv/ — source for a specific driver
  - ... — more driver files
- ... — more kernel modules
.../include — directory for global include files that are used in that project
.../bins — directory for binary programs that are created/needed while compiling the project
- sparc-sunos5-cc/ — directory for binaries that belong to a specific system
- ... — more architecture dirs
.../libs — directory for libraries that are created/needed while compiling the project
- sparc-sunos5-cc/ — directory for libraries that belong to a specific system
- ... — more architecture dirs
.../incs — directory for include files that are created/needed while compiling the project
- sparc-sunos5-cc/ — directory for include files that belong to a specific system
- ... — more architecture dirs
... — and the tree goes on, because she contains multitudes 🦋

💌 AUTHOR 💌

This absolute icon wrote the page:

Joerg Schilling
Seestr. 110
D-13353 Berlin
Germany

Mail bugs and suggestions to:

joerg@schily.isdn.cs.tu-berlin.de or js@cs.tu-berlin.de or jes@fokus.gmd.de

And that's a wrap on makefiles(4L), dated 14. February 1997 — go forth and build something iconic, bestie 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from

arch rolling: cdrtools 3.02a09-6 · GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later AND CDDL-1.0
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on 2026-11-04: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms